Hunted
by ColferGeek
Summary: EOIN COLFER REVIEWED THIS FIC AT AFC! Dear Colfergeek, Eoin Colfer here honestly I liked your story a lot you have a snappy style and a great way with dialogue you should try some completely original stuff I'm sure you already have anyway, keep it up!
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

**_Behind the Mask_**

Gloucester Road Underground Station, London

Artemis Fowl was not the type of person to be found on a bus, taxi or any other type of public transportation. Nevertheless, he now found himself on the filthy platform of Gloucester Road Tube station in London. Under any other circumstances 15 year old Mr. Fowl would not have been able to put up with the extremely poor condition of his current whereabouts, but Butler had been ill and Artemis had been forced to take the trip to England, accompanied only by Juliet.

A business contact of Artemis', a certain Dr. Phillip Robson, had called the day before and said he had an urgent message for him which could only be handed over in person. Butler had warned Artemis (in between fits of coughing) that it was destined to be a trap. Artemis agreed, but said it was too great an opportunity to miss. Butler tried to protest, but was interrupted by a mammoth sneeze which nearly lifted the quilt off of his bed.

So here they were, sitting on a bench in the London Tube, waiting for Dr. Robson. Juliet, in her jeans and Billabong t-shirt, sat, leaning nonchalantly against the column behind the bench and chewed on her lower lip. Apparently, some of the local youths found this very attractive, as some wandered over with wide grins on their faces. These grins instantly vanished as they noticed the pale teenager sitting beside her, drumming his fingers on his knees and boring holes in the sticker plastered floor with his gaze. When they noticed him, they turned around and kept on their various routes.

Artemis glanced at his watch. 14:06. Phillip was 6 minutes late. Ridiculous really, Artemis could have spent the last few minutes rereading The Lord of the Flies for the fourth time or finishing memorizing Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata. He glanced over at Juliet, she was only a few years older than him and sometimes (very rarely) he wished for the company of someone his own age. He assumed that now was one of those occasions because he struck up a conversation with her, without even thinking about it.

"It's a bit hot today, isn't it?" The question seemed to surprise Juliet. Artemis making small-talk? Queer.

"Yeah." She answered, unsure of what to say.

"Because I was even considering going over to that pathetic looking man over there to buy a bottle of water."

"You know they only have plastic bottles, don't you?"

"I think I may have to risk consuming several milligrams of plastic residue. My mouth in parched. Perhaps if you had not forced me to ware such ridiculous clothing..." He looked over his jeans, t-shirt and blazer. "Hardly suitable for a business meeting."

Juliet grinned, "Forced you! When was the last time anybody 'forced' you to do anything."

Artemis couldn't help it, he smiled to. It felt good. "This morning."

"Whatever you say. Anyway, it looks good...Arty."

Artemis blushed. Something which also very rarely happened. He would have his own Chapter in the Guinness Book of World Records soon. Juliet did that to him, they were Polar opposites and yet they where somehow...the same. He didn't stop to ponder it but got up hurriedly and went to get himself his water, muttering something about girls.

Juliet found herself gazing at his back as he walked away. He had put on a few pounds of muscle over the past few months in the newly redesigned gym at Fowl Manor and his face wasn't quite as pale as before. All in all Artemis was almost handsome.

Juliet was shaken from her thoughts by someone looking down at her. She looked up and saw a slender man of perhaps forty, with messy blond hair and a pleasant face, slightly tanned face. He was smiling apologetically.

"Sorry, Miss," he said with an American accent, "I know I'm late. Traffic's horrendous down Cromwell."

"No problem. How'd you know who I was?"

"Not many teenage girls run around with a Sig clipped to their belts."

"True."

A cold voice spoke from behind Phillip Robson, "Dr. Robson, I would like to inform you that you are almost precisely twelve minutes late. What is your excuse for such behavior?"

"Ah, Mast- Mr. Fowl, I was just telling your...uh...your comrade here...um...the traffic on Cromwell roa-"

"Sit down." Robson complied, but not before brushing some of the dust off of the bench. The spark of fun which Juliet had witnessed just minutes before was now completely gone from Artemis' voice. He was his usual self again.

Juliet knew her job. She looked down the length of the man's back, searching for weapons. Nothing. She shook her head at Artemis. He nodded.

"Dr. Robson, you told me over the phone that you wished to speak with me about a matter of some urgency. If this is to be discussed in private, then I suggest we move our persons to a nearby cafe. If not, then please proceed."

Robson took a deep breath, "No, it doesn't matter if the people around here see this...err...if I could please ask you to move to the side...perfect. Now...well, as you may know, I...um...I have a PhD in Physics from the Universit-"

"I know of you Degrees. Continue."

"Well..." He said, while opening the backpack he had brought with him, "I...uh...devised a device which could, in theory, actually reverse the flow of life on this planet...um... Impossible, you say...but...but no. I have managed to stop the movement of time for six point two-two-one nanoseconds."

"Sounds a little too much like Back to the Future to me." said Juliet.

Robson laughed nervously, "No, no. If the magnetic field of the earth could be forced to rotate at a fast enough pace we could be lifted out of the 'time zone' of the rest of the universe. For example..."

Artemis had heard enough, it was time to act. Humans had almost caught up with fairies. They had discovered the Timestop.

"Excuse me for a moment." said Artemis, getting up. He looked over his shoulder. Dr. Robson was showing Juliet a shiny silver tube which she was only half looking at. She looked at Artemis quizzically. He didn't return the glance but hurried off to the Men's WC.

If possible, the stench in there was worse than on the platform. Artemis nearly gagged and proceeded to breathe only through his mouth. The filth was worse there too, but he didn't have time to think about it. He had business to not and not the kind which that particular chamber was usually used for.

He stepped into one of the stalls and shut the door. For a moment he considered sitting down on the toilet seat but seeing that it was covered with stickers of Vladimir Lenin, he decided not to. Instead, he leaned against the the wall of the stall and pulled Holly Short's communicator out of his back pocket.

He opened the address book. There where three names listed there in bold, black lettering:

Foaly  
Holly  
Mulch

He selected the first one and waited. The centaur's familiar features crackled to life on the screen.

"Well, if it isn't the Mud Weasel himself. Why do I have the honor?"

"Hilarious, Foaly."

"I try to do my part."

"You can do your part by giving me everything you've got on Dr. Phillip Robson. Degrees in physics at UCLA and Northwestern."

"Since when do you give the orders 'round here?"

"Just do it, Foaly!"

"All right, all right. No need to get worked up about it." He added in an undertone, "At least he's not Sool."

As Foaly began typing away furiously at his keyboard, Artemis filled him in on the situation. Foaly paled as Artemis told him what he suspected. "Maybe you Mudmen aren't as stupid as you look. Hang on, I've got two hits on the Robson man. Let's see, one's a Hermit in Venezuela. The other...oh you're not gonna like this, Artemis."

"Do me a favor Foaly and tell me."

"Philip Robson, 42. Former President of Fission Chips, under CEO Jon Spiro."

Artemis blew out his cheeks, "Spiro's henchman. Just what I needed."

Just then, a man's head poked out from under the door, "You all right mate?"

"Fine."

"Good, cause you was talkin' to yerself. You never know with them types. Anyway, cheers."

The head retreated and Artemis hung up the communicator. It was time to go. He had spent enough time in this dung heap.  
Artemis walked out of the bathroom and took a deep breath of the "fresh" air outside. He went quickly back to the spot where Juliet was listening to Robson's ramblings.

As he came over the doctor looked up, "Ah, you're back. As I was just telli-"

"Doctor, why exactly are you showing me your masterpiece?"

"Well, I was...err...I was just getting to that. The rights are worth a pretty penny...if you catch my drift. Um... I was going to give you some time...before this hits the market."

"Aha, so this is Spiro's revenge. How unfortunate that it will be not completed."

Robson froze. His pupils contracted. His gaze darted from side to side, like those of a trapped animal, searching for a means of escape. Sweat beaded on his upper lip as he clutched the silver cylinder.

The situation was not good. Armed teenage girl on his left, freaky vampire kid in front of him, train tracks on his right.

"Artemis, what does this have to do with Spiro." asked Juliet.

"Meet Spiro's buddy-boy, his partner-in-crime."

"No...no, not true! I have no idea who your talking about!"

"Really? Lets see." Artemis said, reaching into the man's open backpack and pulling out a PDA.

"Give me that!" barked Robson, but Juliet pinned down his hands.

Artemis opened the assistant's contacts page and selected deleted entries. There, at the top of the list stood two words: _JON SPIRO  
_  
Artemis placed the screen directly in front of the physicist's nose, "And who would this be?"

Artemis didn't wait for an answer, "Juliet, please 'assist' Phillip in walking."

Robson struggled furiously but he was no match for Juliet, "I've got a good lawyer, boy. I'm gonna sue for this."

Something about his voice seemed familiar to Artemis but he dismissed the thought, "I have fourteen and they are at least twice as good as yours. Now, follow."

Artemis led them across the platform and down several flights of stairs. Knowing the route from Butler's (stolen) collection of blueprints. They passed at least six "Authorized Personnel Only" signs along the way, to which Artemis paid no heed.

Once they reached the bottom, there was a choice of four closed doors. Artemis picked an unlocked one on the second try and they all filed inside, Juliet closing the door behind her and switching on a bare light bulb hanging from the concrete ceiling.

They were in a large Janitor's closet. Mops and cleaning supplies where everywhere.

Robson now looked truly scared. Juliet let him go and he collapsed to the floor, shivering. "Please, let me go! What have I ever done to you?"

"Oh, nothing." said Artemis, with mock pity, "Nothing...except conspiring with Jon Spiro, except going out the do your partner's dirty work. Oh, nothing at all."  
"Dr. Robson, here are your options. One: You give me the time stopping device and I let you go free. Two: You keep your little toy and you die! Make you choice."

To Artemis's surprise, Robson was actually grinning, "Hey Fowl!" he said, his voice completely changed, "What if I don't like your conditions? What if I chose option three?"

Jon Spiro reached up and tore the prosthetic mask of Phillip Robson off of his face, "Long time, no see, Arty-boy."

He stood up, holding out the silver tube, "This aint no time-stopping thingamajig." A number lit up on the tube's side. Fifteen seconds. A countdown.

Juliet lunged at Spiro, gun drawn. Spiro pulled a miniature pistol out of his loafer. They waited, neither moving.

They waited fourteen seconds too long.

"Revenge is so sweet!" Spiro whispered, the madness glinting in his eyes.

The detonator blew.

People died.


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks to all the reviewers. You guys rule!**

**Chapter 2**

**_Whoa!_**

**Somewhere underground, London**

The detonator blew.

Artemis didn't think, he acted, diving behind a hill of yellow buckets and thanking Butler's training with all his heart.

The entire room shook furiously. Smoke, dust and shrapnel were flung everywhere in a gigantic cloud and Artemis felt a piece of metal graze his arm, drawing blood.

After ten seconds the confusion died away. Artemis held his breath. The dust settled.

He let his breath out.

The earth shifted, as if some ancient beast was awakening in the deep places of the world.

A deafening roar emanated from every direction. The roof cracked and caved in, collapsing in enormous boulders. A furious shower of cement rained down on him. The light went out.

Artemis snatched a bucket from the pile and jammed it over his head. Just then a slab of concrete came crashing down onto his head.

He was gone…

Artemis woke up.

His head was killing him, nauseating throbs of pain shooting through his cranium. His arm hurt too. Now that he thought about it, his entire body was in pain.

He opened his eyes. No light.

He tried sitting up…WHOA! Bad move! His brain exploded in pain.

He collapsed onto the floor, writhing in the dust and stone splinters.

After several moments the spasm faded and he tried to sit up again, this time without suffering as much damage.

He wiped away the sweat that had collected on his forehead. It was like an oven in there. 'At lease forty degrees' he figured.

He stood up and called, "Juliet!"

"Artemis!" her voice was sacred and weak but not too far off.

"Thank God!" he said, digging in his pocket for his cell phone and flipping it open.

A stark white light came from the phone's screen, illuminating the room and the teenage girl sitting, huddled, in the corner.

When she saw Artemis she jumped to her feet and, running over to him, threw her arms around him.

Artemis Fowl, the great Artemis Fowl, didn't know how to react to this. He had never been embraced by any female other than his mother before. But he wasn't about to object, in fact, he rather enjoyed it ('Rather', isn't the right word. 'Very much', would be more suitable. Or perhaps, 'Extremely'?).

Juliet was crying, tears of both fear and exhaustion.

"You're bleeding." she said, pulling away from him and pointing at his arm.

He nodded, still savoring the scent of her Channel No. 5.

LEP OPS Booth, Haven City 

Foaly the centaur swore colorfully, hanging up the phone. His usually perfectly straightened foil cap drooped to one side.

He reached across the desk, in front of which he was sitting, and picked up a second Telephone. He hurriedly selected a number from the speed dial.

"_Digence and Short Detective Agency, this is Holly. How may I help you?"_

"Hi, its Foaly, I need you to come down here. Fast!"

"_Hey! You can't give me orders, you know." _she teased.

"I'm not kidding Holly! Please! It's got to do with the Fowl kid."

"…"

"Please, Holly! This is urgent!"

"_OK. I'll be right there."_

Foaly hung up. He leaned back in his swivel chair, switching on the live video feed from the Gloucester Road station. The boy wasn't on the platform.

Foaly tried the loos. Nothing there either.

Maybe they had left.

He still had one last place he could try: the service rooms. Technically, these where off limit to unauthorized personnel but…who knew with Artemis?

Yes! They were in the janitor's room. A rather scared looking man was lying on the floor. Artemis was standing in front of him. He was speaking.

"…Here are your options. One: You give me the time stopping device and I let you go free. Two: You keep your little toy and you die! Make you choice."

An unexpected pride rose up in Foaly. The boy was going to do it; he was going to rob the sad little man of his prize.

Foaly was just about to go get the champagne. Then, he saw what happened next,

Robson spoke, his voice was familiar, "Hey Fowl! What if I don't like your conditions? What if I choose option three?"

The man reached up to his face and threw something aside. Foaly paused the feed and zoomed in on the object.

It was a mask. The mask of a face he had seen just minutes before on Google.gnom. It was the mask of Phillip Robson.

Foaly switched back to live, hoping to see the true face of the physicist, but was greeted, instead, by a steady roar of noise.

The roof was caving in!

Surprisingly, his video continued as the deadly hail of stone passed.

He waited for five minutes. Nothing happened. Ten minutes. Still, nothing.

Finally, Foaly had the nerve to look up 'Robson's' voice. One result came up.

JON SPIRO

Holly Short and Mulch Diggums entered the operations booth cautiously. The first thing they noticed was Foaly, lying on the floor.

Holly ran over to him, "Foaly?"

She nudged him worriedly.

He rolled over, laughing hysterically.

"…may be making an idiot out of myself!" he guffawed. "Never thought…never thought I'd do that!"

"What the hell are you talking about, Foaly?" asked Mulch.

Foaly didn't answer. He was too busy rolling about on the floor.

"What!" asked Holly, "Calm down!"

"Okay, okay. Fowl just-" He broke down again.

Holly and Mulch waited impatiently.

Foaly took a deep breath, "Fowl just kissed the D'arviting wits out of Miss Juliet Butler."

The duo looked at him, dumbfounded.

He turned around and turned on the largest plasma screen in the booth. It was showing Fowl, in glorious Digicolour (That's not the same as Technicolor, mind you.). His lips where pressed against hers. But that wasn't the best of it. Juliet's hands where wrapped around Artemis's head and Artemis's hands where resting (very conveniently) on her…backside.

Silence ruled for several moments. Then the room exploded with laughter.

Foaly held Mulch in his arms. Holly was slapping the wall so hard, that her fingers became numb. Mulch almost suffocated, as he breathed in a mouthful of saliva.

For the moment it didn't matter that Sprio was back. Nothing mattered, except the fact, that Artemis Fowl had just kissed a girl.

But there was a fourth person who may have been enjoying the scene(which was now being broadcasted all over Haven) as much as the trio in the OPS booth.

That person was Julius Root.

No, Root was not dead.

---------------------------

Evil cliff! Sorry.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

**_Sudden Death_**

Julius Root battled furiously, his gun blazing. His was face redder than ever, sweat dripping from his brow.

Six corpses lay slumped around the interior of the luxury shuttle. All of them where human, and now, with the death of the seventh one, all of them where dead.

Root slumped against the stained oak wall of the shuttle. He chuckled to himself, most everybody under the planet thought he was dead and yet here he was, slaughtering Mud men. What a life!

He holstered his gun. Sig Sauer P-228. Mud man design; metal bullets, heavy as hell.

He had gotten used to human weapons over the past few months. That's what you got from living above ground for so long.

So, how had Julius Root escaped the evil clutches of Opal Koboi?

The answer is very simple really. Root had a double. If needed, this fairy could be sent in Root's stead onto some of the more dangerous missions, including Root's 'last'.

Root had slipped above ground until the Koboi affair was over but as he tried to return, the People had taken him as a hoax.

So Root had been stuck.

He had wandered across the States for a while, before traveling to Europe and then Asia. Life had been really slow compared to the frantic lifestyle of a LEP Commander.

He had spent most of his time watching Human soap operas; he could see how Foaly liked them so much.

Now he was finally back underground.

He stepped out of the shuttle, onto the LEP landing bay.

Fairies gaped.

The door of the LEP OPS booth flew open and a furious Mud boy stormed in.

Foaly grinned broadly, seeing the teenager's messy hair and torn clothes. His grin quickly faded, after he saw what Artemis was doing: "What the-"

Artemis stomped across the room, and raised his fist.

"You little backstabbing Donkey!"

He brought his fist down on Foaly's nose.

"That was for Juliet!" he roared furiously.

He tore the 'Wedding' cap off of Foaly's head, and tore the tin foil one in half.

"That was for your sad little memorabilia!"

His final blow landed on Foaly's hairy bottom.

"And, that was for myself!"

Foaly fell, stunned, out of his chair, as Artemis stalked out.

Several minutes later, the door swung open again.

"What the hell are you doing on the floor, Foaly!" said Julius Root, walking in.

Artemis Fowl still couldn't get over his sheer fury at Foaly.

The sad little horse had pounded his pride to the ground. And as if the posters all over Haven hadn't been enough, he found Foaly wearing the most insulting piece of headwear he had witnessed! In his entire life!

He was in such a fury as he stormed out of the OPS booth that he didn't even notice the fairy with the human weapon strapped to his hip, walking in.

He walked the length of the low roofed hallway and turned into a side room.

Inside, were the figures of Mulch, Holly and Juliet. Between them was a glass table.

Artemis seated himself between Mulch and Juliet, his hand sliding down underneath the table to hold Juliet's.

Mulch and Holly exchanged knowing smiles.

"The reason I asked you two to join us here is a matter of utmost secrecy. You must swear not to repeat anything that I will say over the next few minutes."

A muttering filled the room. When Artemis began speaking, no one interrupted.

"Juliet already knows the story. Has Foaly filled you two in?" he spoke the word Foaly with such venom that Mulch jumped slightly.

Holly and Mulch nodded.

"Good. Now, there is the matter of Mr. Spiro to deal with. Juliet and I have no way of knowing whether Spiro escaped the explosion. "We were... erm..." He couldn't believe he had actually just said that. Erm wasn't even a word. "Erm... busy."

"Just admit it Artemis," said Mulch, "You made out. Otherwise you wouldn't be holding hands, which you are."

Artemis gave him a look. That said it all.

"If Mr. Spiro is alive-"

"If?" Said a voice from the doorway, "There's no 'If' about it."

The room was absolutely silent. Then Holly jumped to her feet, crying, and threw her arms around Julius Root.

He didn't even smile, but lifted a gun to Holly's head.

Root pulled the trigger.

Juliet felt the bullet bury itself in her skull.

She was dead.

**A/N: Sorry for taking so long to update.**


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